Director Engineering Jobs in Reston, VA (NOW HIRING)

Summary
The Director, Engineering & Commissioning – Service Line Development is a senior technical leader focused on creating, validating, and scaling new performance engineering, commissioning, and decarbonization services for commercial real estate, particularly existing buildings. Positioned initially within the Growth Team, the role shapes market-ready service offerings, expands technical capabilities, validates client demand, and drives revenue growth.

The role partners closely with Account Management and Solutions & Services leadership to align technical solutions with market needs and commercial strategy. While execution is led by established delivery teams, this position provides senior technical guidance and may engage in early-stage or pilot work to test demand and reduce risk.

Designed to evolve over time, the role requires comfort with ambiguity and a proactive approach to defining priorities, structure, and long-term engineering leadership as services mature. It is hybrid-flexible and based in McLean, VA or New York City.

Key Responsibilities

• Service Strategy, Definition and Validation
  • Quickly assess market demand, client needs, internal capabilities and competitor offerings to identify and prioritize new performance engineering, commissioning, and decarbonization service offerings with near term and long term revenue potential.
  • Define, build and scale new engineering and commissioning service offerings from concept through market validation, translating execution-level expertise into clear, market-ready scopes, methodologies, and value propositions.
  • Establish technical frameworks, quality standards, and delivery assumptions that enable consistency, rigor, and scalability across portfolios and clients.
• Early-Stage Execution & Technical Oversight (as needed)
  • Provide senior technical oversight during pilot or early stage engagements to validate service approaches, confirm level of effort assumptions, and identify delivery risks or capability gaps. 
  • Engage, where necessary, directly in project execution in coordination with existing technical team members to support early validation, prove demand, or accelerate readiness while delivery capacity is built.
  • Capture lessons learned from early work and translate them into refined service definitions, standards, and delivery models.
• Commercialization, Growth & Internal Enablement
  • Translate technical capabilities into clear, commercially viable service offerings that can be confidently positioned, sold, and delivered.
  • Partner closely with Growth, Account Management, and Solutions & Services leadership to support proposals, renewals, and client conversations, ensuring offerings align with client planning and investment decision cycles.
  • Support business development by contributing technical credibility, scoping input, and client facing narratives that connect services to asset performance, compliance readiness, and value creation.
• Organizational Enablement & Talent Development
  • Partner with delivery leaders to prepare services and delivery model for operational scale, including documentation, standards, and transition plans into Solutions & Services.
  • Build and mentor technical talent required to sustain new service growth, contributing to the design of future technical leadership pathways informed by service incubation.
  • Represent RE Tech externally through industry engagement, technical forums, and associations (e.g., BOMA, ASHRAE, USGBC.) contributing to thought leadership and market visibility.

How this Role Operates

• This role is accountable for defining and validating what the firm is prepared to sell and scale, rather than owning ongoing project delivery.
• Acts as senior technical authority and advisor, accountable for service definition and scale-up rather than day-to-day execution.
• Enables delivery through established technical teams.
• Focuses on scalability, rigor and repeatability, not bespoke one-off solutions.
• Works across the organization during periods of growth and transition.

Essential Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 

• Ability to translate technical or operational analysis into financial or investment-relevant insights (e.g., impacts to NOI, CapEx, valuation, or risk exposure.)
• Ability to advise clients with a strong understanding of how institutional investors make decisions, translating complex analyses into financially relevant, defensible recommendations
• aligned with investment objectives, risk management, and long term value creation.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills, with the judgment to synthesize data, evaluate trade offs, and develop practical recommendations that support value creation, risk mitigation, and informed decision making.
• Exceptional communication skills (written and verbal), including the ability to produce clear, concise, and executive ready materials and to confidently engage in client discussions, presentations, and internal forums.
• Collaborative leadership capability, with demonstrated ability to work effectively across disciplines, levels, and organizations to co create solutions and deliver successful client outcomes.
• Ability to operate effectively in fast paced, evolving environments, managing multiple priorities, adapting to changing client needs, and maintaining quality and momentum under time pressure.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to manage relationships up, down, and across organizations, navigate complex interpersonal dynamics, and build trust with clients, partners, and internal teams.
• High degree of initiative, ownership, and follow through, with a proactive approach to identifying opportunities, improving how work is delivered, and supporting business growth.
• Sound professional judgment and business ethics, including discretion, integrity, and the ability to handle confidential and proprietary information appropriately.
• Growth mindset, with a commitment to continuous learning, professional development, and contributing to a culture of improvement for oneself, colleagues, and client work.
• Deep expertise on building enclosure systems.
• Expertise in HVAC, electrification, commissioning, and decarbonization.
• Strong understanding of CFD, heat transfer, thermal modeling.
• Advanced knowledge of ASRHAE, Energy Codes, MEES, CRREM.
• Advanced knowledge of LL97 and Building Energy Performance Standards.

Required Education and/or Experience

• 15+ years of progressive MEP engineering experience.
• Professional Engineer (PE) license
• Experience working directly with institutional investors or their operating platforms.
• Demonstrated experience with portfolio-level decision-making, not just single-asset or one-off project work.
• Experience serving in an advisory capacity, where success depended on influencing decisions rather than simply producing outputs.
• Experience in supporting business development and sales
• Experience leading complex technical work and cross-disciplinary teams, including the following types of engineering and commissioning projects:
• MEP modernization and building performance engineering.
• Energy studies, modeling, commissioning, IAQ testing, and compliance.
• Evaluation of whole-building performance and guide integrated solutions.

Preferred Experience

• Experience working in an advisory, consulting, and/or contracting firm, managing client engagements.
• Experience with eQuest, DOE-2, DesignBuilder, IES

Travel Requirements 
Periodic travel is required for the role. Travel may include travel to RE Tech offices, if remote, or between RE Tech offices (Tysons Corner, VA and Dallas, Texas) for meetings (estimate of four times per year), as well as for Legence and/or client business needs, including attending industry events and conferences. 

No sponsorship available for this position.

Salary Range: $160,000-$190,000 (depending on experience). This role is also eligible for an annual performancebased bonus. Bonus eligibility and payout are determined by role, individual performance, and company performance, and are not guaranteed.

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